It's already been a huge year at the movies, with the surprise success of Obsession, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie topping $1bn, and The Odyssey now in theaters. And with huge releases like Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday still to come, a new report suggests that the box office could top $10bn for the first time since the pre-pandemic high of 2019.
According to the number crunchers at Rentrak (h/t Variety), ticket sales aren't just up 10% on 2025 at this stage, they're on par with 2019 – a banner year for theatrical releases, which had nine billion-dollar releases, including Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Frozen 2 and Joker. 2026 is unlikely to have quite that many sky-high performers (only Mario Galaxy and Michael have passed the $1bn threshold so far), but half a dozen isn't out of the question with Toy Story 5, The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday all in with a shot.
